Key Writing Skills for Morons & Managers

By Norman Price

KEY WRITING SKILLS FOR MORONS & MANAGERS is not a textbook of English Grammar. It is a straightforward guide to better communication skills, relevant to every walk of present-day life. Morons won't buy it; managers should.

It will also prove helpful to school-leavers and young graduates seeking their first job. It is extremely easy and enjoyable to read, with each chapter concluding with optional short exercises (and answers) to enable self-assessment and rapid progress in easy steps.

It has been written by an established author and editor with extensive personal experience of working in industry, education, and commerce.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Norman Price
• Release date: May 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476356815

Norman Price

A former soldier, senior lecturer and author of several mainstream textbooks, Norman Price has worked as an editor for many years. Having lived and worked for several years in the Far East, his first novel 'Share a Crooked Rickshaw' is an exotic, action-packed thriller set in the 1960s when Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony. His second novel 'Chen' is a highly charged thriller set in Singapore. His most recent non-fiction books are 'Editing Tips for Indie Authors' which made it to #1 in the Amazon Kindle Top 100 Paid list for Adult and Continuing Education books, and 'Key Writing Skills for Morons & Managers' which will prove helpful to all who wish to improve their written communication skills in the shortest possible time. Norman now lives in the delightful UK county of Pembrokeshire, and is a keen windsurfer.

Book preview

Key Writing Skills

for

Morons & Managers

This is NOT a textbook of English Grammar. It is a straightforward guide to better communication skills, relevant to every walk of present-day life.

Copyright Manuscript Appraisals 2012

All rights reserved

Published by

Manuscript Appraisals

http://www.manuscriptuk.com

Smashwords Edition

CHAPTER 1 - WHY BOTHER?

Why bother to write well? The fact that you're reading this modest guide suggests that you are already aware of the advantages and benefits to be gained. So you’re certainly not a moron, although you may well be an enlightened manager. However, to press home the importance of sound writing skills, let's just take a brief look at the other side of the coin and remind ourselves of the problems caused by the poor communicator. They fall under four headings:

Incomplete Information

Let's imagine that the manager of a road haulage company is less than careful when preparing a job-specification for a new secretary to be recruited via an employment agency. He lists the necessary word-processing skills but neglects to mention an essential need for shorthand. Of the five applicants sent for him to interview, only one is proficient in shorthand. His choice of candidate is severely curtailed and much time has been needlessly wasted - his and theirs. The manager's standing takes a dive.

Misinformation

The problems here are easy to see. An Essex-based shop-fitting rep, say, is mistakenly sent to Newcastle upon Tyne instead of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Amusing to recount, maybe, but not so funny for the small employer paying out good money for a wasted trip. And not likely to boost the promotion prospects of the person responsible for the error. Now picture the negative consequences of a wrong telephone number on a personal CV. No contact; no interview; no job! Misinformation is worse than no information at all.

Ambiguity

Consider these sentences:

Remove the computer from the desk before putting it in the van. (Is it the computer or the desk to be loaded into the van?)

Be there at nine o'clock. (Morning or evening?)

The minister had only one young mistress during his spell in office. (Just the one mistress, or was only one of them young?)

Porridge is such a comforting food when it is cold. (When what is cold - the porridge or the weather?)

The police aim to stop drug-peddling at acid house raves. (Their own drug-peddling or that of others?)

All rather vague and confusing when you think about them. Hardly examples of effective communication.

Poor Presentation

Quality of presentation can be marred by an untidy or unsuitable layout, misspellings, poor sentence construction, illogical sequencing, or a general lack of overall clarity. In each case the end result is a singularly unimpressive document guaranteed to reflect badly on its creator and, in the business world, to detract substantially from a company's image.

Any of the aforementioned shortcomings - incomplete information, misinformation, ambiguity, or poor presentation - can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Two or more of them together is a sure recipe for disaster. But life goes on, you might say. Why worry about it? We get by. And we do - but at what cost? Every snippet of misinformation wastes time and money; in extreme cases it can even cost lives. Imagine the possible consequences of serious misunderstandings in hospitals, war zones, or in real-life rescue operations. Almost too awful to contemplate. But they do happen. And yet industry, commerce, government departments, and yes, even our schools, colleges and universities are peppered with everyday examples of sub-standard memos, poorly-worded letters, and third-rate documentation.

A survey by the Queen's English Society revealed that only 25% of teachers believed that 15-year-olds should be specifically schooled in